SAN FRANCISCO -
And the Earth kept spinning.

The hype ahead of Apple's unveiling of the iPad has been almost comical.

It's been called the next big thing.
 

The savior of newspapers.

Even the Jesus tablet.

Don't get me wrong, the iPad is undeniably cool.

But the "truly magical and revolutionary" product that Apple CEO Steve Jobs says it is?

Not so much.The version I tested Wednesday was more like the third device I never knew I needed.
 

It's lots of fun if you have the extra cash - like a videogame console, e-book reader or portable DVD player.

I spent 20 minutes playing with it, seriously testing its "intuitive" user interface since, as a BlackBerry and netbook user, I'm a newcomer to the iPhone operating system.

My first goal was to get on the New York Daily News homepage.

With a tap on the Web address bar, a virtual keyboard slightly smaller than standard size popped on screen.

I had to hold the tablet with one hand while I pecked out the address. The site loaded with lightning speed.

The color screen was sharp and vibrant in the dark, curtained room, but the LCD might be difficult to view outdoors.

As I turned and rotated the device, the page automatically adjusted for upright viewing in landscape or portrait mode.

I skipped over to YouTube and watched full-screen videos with ease.

Navigating the iPad, I suddenly felt like Tom Cruise in the sci-fi movie "Minority Report," where the computer interface was operated with flicks of the finger on a virtual screen.

"Eventually it could take out game consoles, put a stake in portable DVD players and forever change in-car entertainment," said tech analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group.

And with up to 10 hours of battery life, Jobs said, "I can take a flight from San Francisco to Tokyo and watch videos the whole way on one charge."

Color and video would set the iPad apart from Amazon's current Kindle e-book reader, but iPad isn't quite a Kindle killer yet, analysts said.

Especially with a starting price of $499 for the stripped-down model; the Kindle costs $259.

"Kindle does one thing really well at a cheaper price. And I think we might see a $100 Kindle by next Christmas," tech analyst Stephen Wildstrom said. "Apple and Amazon aren't going to compete selling devices so much as selling books."

But I have to say I liked the ability to view the pages on the iPad in traditional book format, two pages at a time with a crease down the middle. On Kindle, you see one page at a time.

I was also impressed by the iPad's ability to organize photos, especially by geography. You can tap a pushpin on a map to see all the photos you've ever taken in Los Angeles, for instance.

I wasn't convinced that power e-mail users will bite. Whereas a laptop is easy to balance in your lap for long stints on a train or couch, the iPad keyboard dock looked best suited for a desk or table.

Still, plenty of Mac groupies were breathless.

"This is literally the most exciting day of my life," said Ajaz Ahmed, co-founder of London-based ad agency AKQA, as he sat in the elite, invitation-only audience.

Calm down, fella!